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Ted Simons

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Shin Music

Indie quartet emerges from a decade of obscurity to find itself the great pop hope

By Ted Simons
Apr 18, 2002

James Mercer's van is leaking. This is not a good thing. Mercer, leader of the Shins, will soon depart with his band on a two-and-a-half-week tour that includes a stop at Nita's Hideaway in Tempe this Monday night, April 22. The mostly West Coast swing will be the Shins' most...
Cult Superstar

Lucinda Williams might be the most acclaimed songwriter in America, but she still sees herself as an underdog

By Ted Simons
Mar 28, 2002

Lucinda Williams needs to change her m.o. She survived the past two decades as the consummate music industry underdog, a favorite among critics but a nobody with the masses. Her songs, marked by a mindset of observation, were covered by fellow musicians -- most notably Mary Chapin Carpenter's hit with...
Requiem for an Outlaw

Waylon Jennings bucked the Nashville system, and became a legend in the process

By Ted Simons
Feb 21, 2002

Waylon Jennings loved to be in control. He rarely allowed others to make decisions for him, and even then he'd famously say, "There's always another way to do things -- my way." Jennings, who died last week at his home in Chandler at the age of 64 after a long...
Working Drone

Jay Farrar secures his place as an alt-country icon and returns to form with a new solo album

By Ted Simons
Jan 31, 2002

Jay Farrar, reluctant icon of Americana music, pauses to consider his standing in the alt-country pantheon. It's not something Farrar seems eager to discuss. After all, it's been more than 10 years since his first band, Uncle Tupelo, helped kick-start the alternative-country movement with an invigorating blend of rust belt...
Pretty Vacant

New Times' panel of critics searches for musical gems in a disheartening 2001

By Serene Dominic, Gilbert Garcia, Jimmy Magahern, Fred Mills, Ted Simons, Brian Smith and Eric Waggoner
Jan 3, 2002

If 2001 was a maddening, schizophrenic year for America, that goes double for the music that bubbled to the surface in the last 12 months. For most of the year, bland frivolity and mindless chest-thumping ruled the airwaves. Then, as the World Trade Center went down in a monumental pile...

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